Oh help me, oh lord, my router does not connect

i have a surfboard sb4100 broadband modem and a linksys wrt55ag broadband router.

I'm trying to set up a wireless network after recently having telewest installed. But I cannot get the router to access the internet through the Modem. The internet connect works when connected directly into my PC.

When I try and install the router, the network connects info message comes advising me that a network cable is unplugged. If I try and repair this connection, I get a connect for a few seconds and then lose it again. I have managed to get to the router setup page by turning the Telewest modem off, and using the router URL. (which does not lose connection)

If your modem is a router-modem, and you want to keep it that way, connect it to one of the LAN ports of the WRT (not the WRT's WAN port). Make sure you have only one DHCP server running if both your modem and your WRT can be DHCP servers.

Note: Please make sure to reset/reboot the unit after firmware upgrade is complete.

you can find the firmware on this linksys website, just look for WRT55AG

Upgrading the Router's Firmware
Step 1:
Plug your computer directly into Port 1 on the back of the router.

Step 2:
Make sure that the router's power is plugged in.

Step 3:
Open Internet Explorer. Type http://192.168.1.1 into the Address Bar and press [Enter]. Step 4:
You will be prompted to enter a username and a password. Leave the username field blank, and enter admin for the password. Then, press [Enter] or click OK.

NOTE: If you are asked for the password again, the router's default password was changed. Try a common password that you might have changed it to. If are still unable to log in, hold in the Reset button on the back of the router for 30 seconds. After 30 seconds, unplug the power to the router and then plug it back in. Then, try Steps 3 and 4 again.

Step 4:
You will be prompted to enter a username and a password. Leave the username field blank, and enter admin for the password. Then, press [Enter] or click OK.

NOTE: If you are asked for the password again, the router's default password was changed. Try a common password that you might have changed it to. If are still unable to log in, hold in the Reset button on the back of the router for 30 seconds. After 30 seconds, unplug the power to the router and then plug it back in. Then, try Steps 3 and 4 again.

Step 6:
On the Administration page, click on the Firmware Upgrade sub-tab.

Step 7:
On the Firmware Upgrade page, click Browse.

Browse to the location where the firmware files were extracted, and select the wrt54gv5_fw_1.00.6_US_code file.
When the file is selected, click Open.

Step 8:
Click the Upgrade button on the Firmware Upgrade page to start the upgrade. The upgrade will take a few minutes - please do not unplug the router's power cord or make any changes during this process.

Step 9:
When the upgrade has completed, the following message will appear:

Next Step: Completing the Firmware Upgrade

good luck, linksys tried to help me but if they told me about upgrading the firmware would of save me 48 hrs, lol.

Thank you for contacting LinksysÂ® Technical Support. My name is Gloria, and I will be assisting you with your concern.

I understand that you setup the WRT55AG yet you canâ€™t get online behind it. One possible reason is that the router isnâ€™t yet configured properly to work with your modem. Donâ€™t you worry; we will configure it manually. Hereâ€™s what weâ€™re going to do:

1. Check physical connection among devices.
2. Reset the router to load back the factory default settings.
3. Reconfigure it according to your Internet connection type with ISP.
4. Perform power cycle to refresh the devices of the new settings.

For the physical connection of the devices, hereâ€™s the procedure:

1. First, connect directly to your cable modem without the router and verify if you can get online.
2. Once you've verified that you can get onto the Internet without the router, please proceed. If you can not, please contact your ISP for further assistance.
3. Now unplug the Ethernet cable that connects to your cable modem from the back of your computer.
4. Take the connection that you just unplugged from the back of your computer and connect it to the WAN port of the router.
5. Take a different Ethernet cable and plug it into the port closest to the WAN port, or into the LAN/numbered port.
6. Look on the front panel of the router. The following lights should be illuminated:
- Power
- WAN Link
- Link/Act (On the port that you connected your computer to)
- If other lights other than Link/Act are illuminated on this port, that is normal
- You may have a few other lights illuminated depending on the model number router you have, but the 3 above must be illuminated for proper connection.
7. Reset the router for 10 seconds by pressing its reset button at the back panel.
8. Restart your computer.

1. Go to the Wireless tab, Basic Wireless Settings sub-tab.
2. Across Wireless-A Settings, you may select Enable across Mode if you have devices under Wireless-A standard.
3. Turbo Mode is Enabled also.
4. For the Network Name (SSID), change the default â€œlinksysâ€ to your name or to any other name that will distinguish your network.*
5. Channel is Auto (DFS).
6. Enable first the SSID Broadcast until the wireless devices are able to connect.
7. Across Wireless-G Settings, you may use the Mixed Mode so that both Wireless-G and Wireless-B devices can connect to your router.
8. Change also the default â€œlinksysâ€ to your name or to any other name that will distinguish your own network.*
9. Use Channel 11.
10. Enable first the SSID broadcast. You may disable this later after connecting wirelessly to your network.
11. Hit Save Settings button below the page.

* To distinguish which network youâ€™re connected to, have different a different SSID for Wireless-A and G. Itâ€™s also possible to have the same network name and then put A or G; for instance, router-A and router-G.

To enable the encryption, hereâ€™s the procedure:

1. Kindly go to the Wireless Security sub-tab.
2. Enable the encryption you want.
3. If you toggle on WEP, click on default transmit key 1.
4. Use either 64-bit (10 hex digits) or 128-bit (26 hex digits) encryption.
5. You may use your own network key by typing characters across key 1 (since youâ€™re using default transmit key 1) or enter a passphrase then let the router generate the key for you.
6. WEP uses hexadecimal characters. These are letters A-F and numbers 0-9.
7. If youâ€™ll use WPA, enter your desired key across Shared Key.
8. Hit the Save Settings button below the page.

After saving all the settings, perform power cycle to refresh the devices of the new settings.

1. Shut down your PC, the router, then turn on the modem and shut it down.
2. Wait for 30 seconds.
3. Turn on the modem first and wait for the lights to stop blinking.
4. Power up the router, and finally the computer.

For the wired computer, just plug the Ethernet cable into the numbered port of the router and the other end to the Ethernet port of the PC. Just ensure that the Ethernet card is working properly in the device manager. To verify, hereâ€™s how:

1) Click on the Start menu, and click on Control Panel.
2) In the Control Panel window, kindly click on System.
3) Click on the Hardware tab, and then click on Device Manager.
4) Under Network Adapters, please look for your device.
5) Right click on it and hit Properties.
6) Check what the status is.

After the routerâ€™s configuration, ensure that the adapter of your wired computer is lit. Double-check also at the routerâ€™s front panel if the port light corresponding to your computer is lit. Verify also in the device manager if the adapter is working properly. Hereâ€™s the procedure:

1) Click on the Start menu, and click on Control Panel.
2) In the Control Panel window, kindly click on System.
3) Click on the Hardware tab, and then click on Device Manager.
4) Under Network Adapters, please look for your device.
5) Right click on it and hit Properties.
6) Check what the status is.
7) It should be working properly. If not, take note of the error message.

For the wireless computer, weâ€™ll create a profile in it so that it will connect automatically to your own network. To be able to create a profile using the WZC of Windows XP, Wireless Zero Configuration (WZC) should be started. The best way to determine it is by using the Computer Management facility. Follow the steps below to verify that the service is running:

1. Click Start.
2. Go to Run and then type services.msc.
3. Under Services and Applications, select Services.
4. Look for the Wireless Zero Configuration service.
5. Make sure that it is started and that the Startup Type is set to Automatic. If it isn't, right click on the service and select Properties and set it to startup automatically.

Hereâ€™s how to create a profile on your PC:

1. Right click on the wireless network connection icon in the system tray.
2. Click View Available Wireless Networks.
3. Press Change Advanced Settings at the left side of the window.
4. On the Wireless Networks tab, be sure to check the box beside Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings.
5. Remove everything under Preferred Networks.
6. Click Add; type in your network name under Network Name in the Association tab.
7. Set the Network Authentication and Data Encryption in accordance with whatâ€™s enabled in the router.
8. Input your network key and confirm it (if your router is encrypted).
9. Leave everything at the bottom to default.
10. On the Authentication tab, uncheck the box beside IEEE 802.11x authentication for this network.
11. For the laptop to connect whenever it sees the routerâ€™s network, check the box under Connection tab.
12. Click OK all the way out.

After creating a profile, connect wirelessly by doing the following:

1. Right click on the wireless network connection icon in the system tray.
2. Click View Available Wireless Network.
3. Highlight your wireless network or SSID.
4. Hit Connect and enter the network key, if your network is encrypted.
5. If it wonâ€™t connect instantly, restart the PC.

Should you need further assistance, please send us the following information:

â€¢ Model number and version of your wireless adapter. If itâ€™s Linksys, please look for the FCC ID on the device itself.
â€¢ Operating system of your computer.